BIRMINGHAM, England — Theresa May used her first address to her party as prime minister to deliver an iron message in a velvet glove: Britain doesn't want a fight with the EU, but forget any talk of a soft Brexit.

Speaking on the first day of the U.K. Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham Sunday, May looked beyond those in the hall and made it clear to those watching elsewhere in Europe that she would not even discuss the continuation of free movement after Britain's exit from the EU.

May's intervention on Sunday is the clearest indication yet that Britain is heading for a hard Brexit outside the European single market. In the battle between Brexit hardliners and Cabinet skeptics such as Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, May appears have sided with the first group most closely associated with Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox.

If Brexit means anything, May told the Conservative Party conference, it has to mean the full repatriation of political power from Brussels. Anything less was unacceptable. "We are going to be a fully independent, sovereign country," May said. "A country that is no longer part of a political union with supranational institutions that can override national parliaments and courts."

Brexit, May added, meant having “the freedom to make our own decisions on a whole host of different matters, from how we label our food to the way in which we choose to control immigration.”

“Let me be clear. We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again. And we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice” — Theresa May

The upshot, if May is good to her word, is a U.K. completely extricated from the Brussels machine and outside the single market and its open borders to labor. In the upcoming Brexit negotiations the only thing left to discuss, according to the prime minister, is the terms on which Britain and Europe continue to trade.

Exit date

After a summer in which she revealed little more than insisting "Brexit means Brexit" May's speech was intended to draw a line under the debate about whether Britain would really make a clean break with Brussels. Senior political figures, from Nicolas Sarkozy to the Labour's Party's defeated leadership challenger Owen Smith, have raised the prospect of a second referendum to keep Britain in the EU.

May said she would begin the formal process of leaving the EU by the end of March 2017, firing the gun on a two year exit negotiation. She also announced that the government would introduce a Great Repeal Bill, annulling the 1972 European Communities Act which took Britain into the European Union. The bill, which will not come into force until the U.K. formally leaves the EU, would end the primacy of European law in the U.K.

The proposal, in effect, dares Labour and other pro-European MPs — who make up a majority of the House of Commons — to vote against the will of the electorate. If the government was defeated, it would almost certainly trigger a snap general election to give the prime minister a mandate to enact Brexit.

Theresa May arrives with her husband Philip on the first day of the Conservative Party conference | Carl Court/Getty Images

If MPs do vote the bill through, however, May will have a blank check to negotiate the terms of Britain's withdrawal from the EU, with MPs already having given their assent to Brexit.

No choice

In May's address to party activists, she insisted too many people had not accepted the result of the referendum and were beset by “muddled thinking” over the future relationship between Britain and the EU. The prime minister stressed repeatedly that the referendum result had been "clear" and her Government would not "question, quibble or backslide on what we have been instructed to do."

The prime minister said there was “no such thing as a choice between ‘soft Brexit’ and ‘hard Brexit,'” insisting this was a false dichotomy “propagated by people who, I am afraid to say, have still not accepted the result of the referendum.”

In rejecting talk of a "soft Brexit" May is all but rejecting the compromise "Norway option" floated by some pro-Europeans that would see Britain remain in the single market but accept free movement and contributions to the EU budget. May's claim that this did not, in turn, necessitate a "hard Brexit" is intended to calm fears that Britain will not be able to negotiate a Canadian-stye free trade agreement to take its place.

“The truth is that too many people are letting their thinking about our future relationship with the EU be defined by the way the relationship has worked in the past," she said.

In an attempt to define Britain's red lines in negotiations with Brussels, May said the upcoming talks would not be about “negotiating away all our sovereignty again.”

“It is not going to be about any of those matters over which the country has just voted to regain control. It is not, therefore, a negotiation to establish a relationship anything like the one we have had for the last 40 years or more.

“It is going to be an agreement between an independent, sovereign United Kingdom and the European Union.”

The claim — a statement of the obvious in some regards — is designed to bury the prospect of an EU-lite arrangement in which some sovereignty is pooled in return for free trade. It is a nod to her MPs' Thatcherite dream of an independent, free-market Britain trading openly with the world outside the EU.

This is an opportunity not just to clear the air but to create a more comfortable relationship with you European neighbours that works better for all of us” — Brexit minister David Davis

In May's brief opening speech to the conference ahead of her main address on Wednesday, she dismissed claims there was a “trade-off” between controlling immigration and trading with Europe. “That is the wrong way of looking at things,” she insisted. It was a message her audience wanted to hear, but one also directed at Brussels: Britain wants a free-trade deal, not a messy single market compromise.

She called for a “mature, cooperative relationship” with EU built on free trade, saying she wanted British companies to have “the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market.” But she added: “Let me be clear. We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again. And we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.”

May rejected the idea, advocated by hardline Eurosekptics in her party, of a snap Brexit and insisted that Britain would play by the rules while it remained an EU member. “Everything we do as we leave the EU will be consistent with the law and our treaty obligations,” she said.

Boris and I

Presenting a unified front with Brexit minister David Davis and new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, May sought to project an image of a self-assured U.K., confident of securing a deal from the EU that, while severing all political ties, would be in the economic interests of both.

“We joined a common market, an economic community,” Davis said in his speech. “We’ve never really been comfortable being part of what is in reality a political project. We’re now leaving that project. This is an opportunity not just to clear the air but to create a more comfortable relationship with you European neighbours that works better for all of us.”

Davis was followed by Johnson, whose speech sought to portray Britain as a “soft power superpower.” Johnson insisted that the U.K. would become a global champion of free trade outside the EU, but at the same time pledged to continue cooperation with the bloc on issues of mutual interest, such as sanctions against Russia, and anti-trafficking operations in the Mediterranean.

CSK

Latimer Alder

Bravo Mrs May!
Only 910 days maximum until our final disentanglement from the antidemocratic unaccountable failed experiment that is the bastard EU.

Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!

Posted on 10/3/16 | 2:42 AM CET

Jodocus

Mrs. May’s intentions are clear enough. Can’t fault her for that.
Whether it plays out like that (e.g. the vote in parliament) is another question, but let’s assume it does.

I really wonder how people think the UK can have free access to the common market without contributing, why the EU might consent with Britain serving as as a cheap and convenient access route to the common market for any country wishing to bypass the EU’s import restrictions, or why the EU would consent to the UK’s loosely regulated financial service sector to continue operating within the EU.

Ah well … we’ll have the next two years to sort that out.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 8:13 AM CET

edel

@Jodocus

“I really wonder how people think the UK can have free access to the common market without contributing”? “People” don’t really have an opinion or really comprehend. Politicians do, they are expecting that EU business will put enough pressure to Brussels on keeping the market intact, and to give the British credit, business may well have that strength.

In one side, EU politicians own their loyalties more to their domestic parties than the EU long-term project. On the other side, EU citizens are indifferent what we give to UK. This unfortunate combination is the main advantage May knows UK has in the negotiations. I just hope someone in Brussels has the insight of foreseeing EU’s long-term wellbeing rather than a few short-term extra profits.

Judging by May’s attempts to make a “success” of Brexit it looks like the rest of us are trying to explain the rules of Monopoly to toddlers. I am sorry if this offends Brexiteers who are very touchy and prickly about the amount of grey matter they possess but for many of us it is too painful to see our amazing country being sold down the river by a bunch of imbeciles trying to destroy a perfectly benign, hugely important structure for which we have a need and which is highly beneficial to our society.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 8:47 AM CET

Bobb

@euperspectives

The UK’s membership of the EU is over. Get a new hobby and stop yer whining. I voted remain but you lilly livered bedwetters are getting on my nerves. Democracy has been served, respect it.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 9:21 AM CET

Maverick

We joined a common market, an economic community,” Davis said in his speech. “We’ve never really been comfortable being part of what is in reality a political project. We’re now leaving that project. This is an opportunity not just to clear the air but to create a more comfortable relationship with you European neighbours that works better for all of us.”……..pretty much sums it up for me. Not anti European, not isolationisrs, not anti free trade, not anti migration………just the opportunity to be out of a political project requiring fiscal, political and legal union which us the direction the EU us taking. I wish EU and Europeans every success even though I do believe it is a fundamentally flawed ideal in its current form. I voted remain in the hope of EU reform but was deeply conflicted. Since the vote and all that has transpired since I am convinced more than ever that in the long term it will be for the better. Anyway regardless whatever the future holds best to get on with it and make the best of it….Keep Calm & Carry On!

Posted on 10/3/16 | 9:30 AM CET

Edward

@Bobb
Squealing and feet stamping is euperspectives new hobby. They promote themselves as of superior intelligence yet produce a website that it is the antithesis of intellectual argument and debate.

The next 15 years of their life will be spent whining about a legitimate democratic decision whilst the rest of us, both EU and UK just move on.

My young lad of 6yrs sometimes reacts this way when things don’t go his way.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 9:55 AM CET

endorendil

“The proposal, in effect, dares Labour and other pro-European MPs — who make up a majority of the House of Commons — to vote against the will of the electorate. If the government was defeated, it would almost certainly trigger a snap general election to give the prime minister a mandate to enact Brexit.”

That does not fit the timeline. The “Great Repeal” bill won’t even be tabled before the Queen’s Speech in April/May. That is *after* the trigger of article 50. It will not be a tool to block Brexit..

“In rejecting talk of a “soft Brexit” May is all-but rejecting the compromise “Norway option” ”

Actually, in saying that the ECJ cannot have jurisdiction in the UK after Brexit she went much further than that. The ECJ is the court for the single market rules. May essentially says that no only can the UK not be a part of the single market (the Norway option), but it cannot make a far-reaching deal like Switzerland has. It’s not a suggestion anymore, it isn’t something that can be compromised upon at all. It also no longer has anything to do with immigration per se: it is a matter of sovereignty.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 9:55 AM CET

Maverick

@Bobb/Edward

“euperspectives new hobby. They promote themselves as of superior intelligence”

I am so surprised they believe that especially when they describe the EU as benign… and don’t know the difference between a civil servant and an MP in relation to their comment regarding Nicholas Timothy.

It seems we were on the same side of the referendum….remain. But sadly it seems they cannot accept defeat. Move on guys the referendum is over. Get a life and instead of bemoaning use your supposed ‘superior intellect’ and prove it by putting it towards a more useful cause on the best way to have the best relationship between Europe & UK going forward.

If not just continue playing Monopoly

Posted on 10/3/16 | 10:21 AM CET

Bobb

@Maverick
Yes that’s very much my position. I did vote remain but not without some misgivings. It’s done now and it went the other way. Some people I love, respect and admire voted remain and some for leave. Quite an even split.

The campaign has been very divisive. Very difficult to have a reasoned debate with either remain or leave, everyone got so polarised so quickly.

Good luck to us and good luck to the EU.

Democracy must always win though. Let’s get on with it and stop crying about not getting our way is my thought. What will be will be.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 11:25 AM CET

Deb

@edel

A well functioning and prosperous UK is very much in the EUs best interests as is a functioning and prosperous EU very much in the UK’s interests. This seems to have been forgotten in all the bitterness.

@Maverick. From Politico Article “Timothy left government in 2015 after his ambitions to become an MP were hobbled …. he was removed from the party’s list of candidates for the 2015 election.” The man is an unelected Mandarin urging our Prime Minister to sell the country down the river. I stand by my statement you can’t explain Monopoly to toddlers. You just can’t. There’s no point.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 12:05 PM CET

Savoy Truffle

Its goodbye to all that; all that European trade; investment and goodwill. A very British solution when in doubt retreat returning to a world that no longer exists. To boldly seek higher ground before the next great flood on Wall Street. The British EU departure overdue after rejecting the euro. Let the Pound take the strain submerging gracefully into the blue yonder. Imagine a world without borders?

Posted on 10/3/16 | 12:06 PM CET

FierEuropeen

GREAT! Now Please LEAVE once for all, we are tired of your ugly faces! I hope that we get very, very high tariffs with the UK! The higher the better for the EU.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 1:11 PM CET

Maria Valentina Umer

But no politician´s promise, especially one made in a politically-loaded region (Birgingham) and ambience, has credibility until it is actually effected. The word is still out. But, at least this is a start.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 1:57 PM CET

Thucydides

The challenge for the EU is to decide whether it wants to be a club or a sect.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 2:41 PM CET

Ian

@Thucydides

Or a cult.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 5:40 PM CET

Maverick

@euperspectives

My 4 year old is actually quite good at Monopoly….its down to not underestimating their ability to understand. Yes Nick is an unelected civil servant – name one that is elected? His job is to advise so he advises. His advice has meant Theresa May had the tenure at the Home Office longer than anyone in 60 years and relatively unscathed…..something that is virtually unheard of when you are the Home Secretary. He no doubt helped her escape regarding the divisive nature of the referendum that claimed so many political scalps. Seems to me he is a rather gifted advisor….time will tell. As you state the only reason he did not get elected as an MP at all was due to internal Conservative politics.

Posted on 10/3/16 | 6:00 PM CET

Maria Valentina Umer

May will have it “hard“ as she wishes!

Posted on 10/3/16 | 7:12 PM CET

FierEuropeen

“May will have it “hard“ as she wishes!”
I can’t imagine how that can be possible with her 🙂

Posted on 10/3/16 | 7:36 PM CET

Deirdre

I am baffled by the hard or soft brexit nonsense, the country voted to leave the EU, to regain control and sovereignty this obviously means leaving all aspects of the EU, the only issue for negotiation is trade. Will it be a free trade agreement or W.T.O. terms. Either way we are leaving accept it stop the vicious comments, the whining, the insults and get on with life.

@ Maverick – but was that not one of the main arguments of those running the Brexit campaign for leaving the EU in the first place? That it was run by unelected bureaucrats stealing sovereignty from our Parliament in Westminster. Do you not find it ironic that we are now in a situation where the future of our country, our jobs, our prosperity and security is being decided by an unelected mandarin and that May (who has never been to the country for a mandate) has made it clear she has no intention of consulting parliament over Brexit? I bear the insults of the Brexit trolls on this site because I love my country too much to see it sold down the river by those seeking a hard Brexit. I have no doubt that your four year old understands the rules of monopoly very well. Sadly not those who are in a position to determine the UK’s future outside of the UK. When I say that it is like trying to explain the rules of monopoly to toddlers I am not referring to the British electorate. My criticism is directed at the very politicians who should (and do) understand how international politics works – Fox, Davies and Johnson – and who have the audacity to stand up at a party conference in Birmingham and declare the UK will simply leave and trade with the rest of the world and everything will work out fine. It won’t. The UK will be crushed by bigger interests than ours. The UK will be side-lined and ignored for years with her reputation in tatters for at least two generations. The risk of job losses, lost opportunities and missed deals is high. If the EU really were a terrible, autocratic monstrosity then of course this would be a risk worth taking. But it is not. It has been portrayed as such but when has it ever denied you your rights to freedom of expression, the right to travel, enter into business, form relationships, build a new future? It hasn’t and it has no intention of ever doing so. Your four year old, just as every child in the UK, deserves a future of opportunity, harmony and openness – not a future of fragmentation, discord and bad-will between neighbours.